Kids!
by Mountebank.Vaudevillian
Summary: A tight group of friends run away from more than just their horrid boarding school, but their pasts, thereafter befriending two very different girls, who lead them to the slickest thief in all of New York, thus beginning their grand adventure!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter Two**

I woke up with a start. It must have still been dark out, cause there was no light coming in from the boarded up windows. I propped myself up with my elbows and looked around. Blue was snoring like a seventy year old grandfather, Bolt mumbled something in his sleep, Winks had his blanket up to the top of his head so only a tuft of hair was showing and Kings was...no where. I blinked into the darkness and sat up. Then I saw him sitting, smoking his pipe, where Sock and I had been earlier that evening. Somehow I managed to tip-toe in between the pillows and sleeping bodies and go over to King. I knew he heard me coming cause he instinctively moved over the close I got to where he was sitting. He didn't look behind him at all.

"Heya Tex," he mumbled, holding his pipe between his lips.

"Oh...hi," I said. How did he know it was me? Sometimes I did wonder if King has eyes at the back of his head.

"Youse didn't sleep well or what?" I sat down beside him and shut him a puzzled glance.

"Huh?"

"You was tossin' an' turnin' somthin' awful," he started tossing his hat in his hand.

"I don't remember anythin'. Jus' remember wakin' up," King sighed and dropped the subject. He knew as well as everyone else did that I never slept soundly; even the teachers at the boarding school knew that. My mind could never shut up. He took his pipe out of his mouth, noticed no smoke coming from it, and put it down beside the cigarette butt that Sock had tossed at me before.

"Gotta smoke?" he looked at me.

"Nah, that there was Sock's,"

"She's a tough one," I shrugged my shoulders.

"I dunno 'bout that," I said frankly.

"Well then she sure puts on a good act," We both stared ahead and shifted uneasily. I finally decided to say something.

"The kids blind," I was weary about telling King. Somehow I knew this wasn't the best move.

"Waddya talkin'?"

"Sock..." I hesitated chose my words carefully, "She can't see like we can. Told me so before. She got some eye drops or somthin' that's supposed to help her. Says she can't see well in the dark. Every things gotta be real bright an' real close up,"

"But she saw the way you was lookin' at her the first time," I knew what he mean. I went back a few hours; 'Waddaya lookin' at bud!?'.

"There was a candle right by her. On the table by the sofa," I recalled.

"Oh yeah I thinks you're right..." he looked over his shoulder and into the shack, "poor kid," Her voice echoed in my mind.

"She don't need nobody's sympathy," I mumbled. I doubted King heard me. I almost wish he would have, 'cause the feeling in my gut was getting worse and worse. I shouldn't have told King anything. "Jus' don't treat her any different kay?" I added.

"She don't need to be," he got up to leave, "As i says before, she's a tough one,"

I didn't know what to think. King messed up my hair as he turned and went back into the shack. I knew he had a story. We all knew about it. It made him who he was today. Winks had a tale to tell too, a real sad one at that. In fact I remember almost crying when he told us about his 'old life back in Harlem.' Even I had a past, though I didn't like to speak of it. I stared down at Sock's cigarette butt. She was tough. King was right, but something made her that way. I thought about Vanessa and her green eyes. The green eyes that would never hurt a living soul. Somehow I figured they'd seen more then all of us put together. I knew King would say something to her eventually, and I also knew that since I had told him about Sock, that I would hear about Vanessa. I didn't fall back asleep for a very long time after that.

I expected to be woken up by our supervisor's shrill voice, not by the smell of freshly baked bread. It took me a few moments to realize where I was again, and when I did, I smiled. I was free. I heard foot steps aproch and slightly opened my eyes. The smell was getting stronger and stronger until it was right under my nose. My mouth watered.

"Get you're fat carkes up, dweeb," The smell suddenly disappeared as I looked up and saw Winks eating a chunk of steaming bread.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm up, I'm up," I mumbled.

"Youse better be. This is some kinda fine, gettin' good eats first thing in the mornin'," We never got breakfast at the school. They always said we were too expensive to begin with, so that had to cut spending. I stretched my harms out and hoisted my self from the pillows. I was still wearing my street clothes, since none of us had the sense to bring anything else along when we took off. Frankly I was half glad to not have to wake up wearing designated school night shirts. They itched something fierce. I sauntered over to a small table where everyone had crowded.

"Here, I is done. Sit," Blue got up out of his chair and let me sit down.

"Thanks, Blue," I reached in front of me and took a piece of bread from the pile. The first bite melted in my mouth like nothing ever before. The second bite, I chewed twice and swallowed. Before I knew it, I had eaten the entire piece. I could hear Vanessa laughing from where she was sitting.

"Go head hun, have another," she pushed the plate towards me.

"Yeah, you is lookin' like you need some fattenin' up," I didn't even bother to look and see who had said that. I knew had to have been Sock. "Didn't they feed ya, back at that school?" She was running her hands through her hair.

"No," said Blot, grabbing another slice. "Well, yeah, but only if we was behavin' good," What he said was true. If we so much as had more than one answer wrong in a class or were a minute slow with our chores, there would be no supper for us.

"Well ya ain't gonna starve around here. Vanessa cooks enough for a whole orphanage," she paused and cracked her neck, "So youse gotta place to stay?" Of course I knew that question was coming, but that still didn't make it any easier to answer. I opened my mouth to make up something but King got there first.

"We're jus' lookin'," he said cooly. "Why?" Sock was about to answer but Vanessa quickly interupted her.

"Youse can stay here till ya find a place. It's awful rough tryin' to find somethin' ya know,"

"You sure?"

"Oh, of course," I looked at Sock just in time to see her mouth 'I'm not'. "And since youse went and looked after Sophie, I don't see why we all can't go take a look and see if we find anythin'," Sock glared daggers into her.

"There ain't nothin' to be had. I was just around there a few days ago and I didn't see anythin'," she was covering up for something, that much was obvious.

"Shut it Sophie. You never even thanked them for savin' you,"

"SOCK" she shouted, "M'names SOCK not Sophie,"

"Why not Sophie?" Winks was back to his old tricks again.

"'Cause I says so, that's why. Sophie makes me sound like one of 'em goils with the ribbons in their hair," she was fuming, "And I didn't need no savin', I was jus' fine!" Vanessa looked towards where King and I were sitting.

"Sorry. She doesn't mean the half of what she says," she turned towards Sock, "You never think that I could possibly be worrying...you assume that I should just-"

"OK. Alright, I'm sorry," Sock chucked a piece of bread at her. We sat and finished eating in silence. Vanessa got up and left everything the way it was and stated,

"We best be going now, if you wanna see what it is we do," I was just about out the door when somebody grabbed my arm.

"One word, Tex. One word to the traps and your a dead guy, ya hear?" Sock tightened her grip on my hand. "I'm tustin' youse now...an' frankly I dunno why," she let my arm go.

"I ain't gonna say a word. The traps are probably out lookin' for us anyway," Her face remained poisonous for a moment, but then relaxed. She nodded.

I walked behind everyone else as we headed down the street.

"Sure looks a might different from when we was down here last night," said Winks looking around at the run down houses and closed stores.

"Didn't youse get to go anywhere when you were at school?" Vanessa turned her head to King.

"Not really. We weren't allowed to leave the school grounds, no matter what; not for no reason,"

"Why's that?"

"'cause," he paused, "we was in a different part of the school," Personally, I thought King's answer to be quite obvious. Clearly Sock didn't.

"s'that supposed to mean?" she lit a cigarette and started walking backwards.

"We was in the back building, it's behind the main one in the front. Thats the one everyone sees when they walk by," King

"Why'd they keep youse cooped up in there?" God, she didn't shut up.

"We didn't get our schooling paid for,"

"So the ones that did, got the front school?"

"Somethin' like that. We don't have no family to pay for our way, so they stuck you in the back. Basically we had to work our way through school an' everybody else got a free ride," King adjusted his hat.

"And I'm bettin' that's why youse all left then am I right?"

"We didn't leave 'cause of the work, if that's what you're sayin'," Sock took a long drag on her cigarette and blew a smoke ring.

"Then you tell me, what brought youse all here then?"

"I dunno. We jus' had it. We don't have no family that writes us hoity-toity letters, we didn't get the same schooling as the rest did, and if we put one foot outta line..." he stopped there.

"We didn't want no one splittin' us up," explained Blue causiously, "Simple as that," Of course it wasn't all that simple, but none of us felt like telling Sock our life stories at that point, so we said as little as possible. King reached into his trouser pocket and fished around for something. I suspected he was looking for his pipe. Noticing he had left it back at the shack, he sighed.

"Spot me one 'o' those would ya?" he reached out his hand to Sock. She kept walking backwards, blew one last smoke ring, took the half finished cigarette out from between her lips and handed it to King.

"Finish it,"

"Thanks," said King reaching forward for the cigarette. "Hey and watch where youse is goin'" Sock had turned back around and was tripping here and there on the uneven cobble stone. She whipped her head around and glared, but to my surprise, didn't say anything.

We walked for some time. The further we walk, the worse the neighborhood got and the more people were milling about around us. I felt strangely out of place. Vanessa, who had been leading the way for some time now, turned right down an alley-way. The buildings on either side of us blocked off the light, making me feel more than just a little bit self concious. She suddenly stopped in front of a red brick building with a large wooden door.

"What if Captain is here?" Vanessa fiddled with her dress nervously.

"Then we tells 'em what the deal is. No point in us lyin'," Sock rolled her eyes. "And youse shut your mouths if we is not alone in there, ya hear?" She turned to us squinting her eyes. He all nodded and muttered unanimus 'yesm's and 'sure's. It was a good show she had said that just then, because not a second after did the wooden door slam open and a figure appeared before us.

"Captain," greated Sock, spitting in her hand and reaching it out to the person.

"Sock. Vanessa. And...." the voice trailed off. The shadow in the doorway moved into what light there was to be had in the alleyway. The boy wore a top hat, black coat, a brown checkered shirt under yellow suspenders and black pants. From under the brim of his hat came a mess of black curls and a pair of dark eyes. His one eye was covered with a patch and his cheek bone was decorated with a long, deep scar.

"We'll explain in jus' a few-" Vanessa didn't get to finish.

"No need. Seem to be orphan's by the looks 'o' things. Poor, uneducated, lost, scared, helpless and alone. Anything I might have missed?" Somehow I didn't think that was a question that we were supposed to answer. I was right. "Don't got no lodgings either I'supposin'?" We all remember what Sock had told us and just shook our heads. "Grand. Right well, no rest for the wicked. In youse get," he moved aside and opened the door for us. My eyes popped. I didn't know whether to scream, run, jump for joy or whimper.

"Gimmie one good reason why this is all out in the open," Sock spat. She looked like she might throw something.

"Calm yourself goil. Why youse worried 'bout them all. I's take one look at 'em an' I tells ya, they ain't gonna do nothin'. They'se too..." he paused looked back at us, "Innocent,"

"Sure thing, Captain, but just so's you is knowin', if they call the bulls on us, I ain't bailin' you out," Captain shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

"I tells ya, they ain't gonna do nothin'. Jus' look at 'em," Him, Sock and Victoria and glanced at our open mouths and laughed. I sure as hell didn't get why they were laughing at us. Who wouldn't have their mouth wide open and there eyes nearly popping out of their sockets if they saw what we saw. Piles of it. On the chair, on the table, on the widow sill, one the ground by the fire place; all over. Sparkling, shimming, glinting in the candle light. Jewels of every shape and size, golden plates, china, silver, and pearls plus more. My eyes couldn't take it all in. I didn't even notice when Captain snapped the door shut behind us.

"You got a good haul this time 'round I sees," Victoria moved a pile of jewelry off a chair so she could sit down.

"Better than good. This'll get me a good thou for sure," he whipped his head around and examined King. "Eldest?" he asked, spitting in his hand and reaching it out to King.

"Youngest," answered King with a hint of pride. I knew how he felt about himself. He knew he was tall, had a decent build and looked mature for his age. King looked the oldest, at 14-goin-on-15. I was slightly taken aback when King started pointing at me after spitting in his own hand and (rather hesitantly) shaking with Captain.

"That one's the oldest. I'm 14, Tex here is gonna be 16 in a week an' a bit," I shifted nervously. I looked 12 and I knew it.

"Woulda never thought. Well that goes to show youse, Captain ain't always on the ball," he glanced at me for a moment. "You're probably tougher than you look. At least let's hope so," I could hear Sock snickering from a far corner. Captain turned to her.

"He's about as tough as a wet mop. God help us all, I dunno what we gots ourselves into again. I swear these types wouldn't know a good soakin' if it came up an bit em' in the rear. You know Cap--" I didn't let her finish her mumbling.

"You shut your bawlin'!" I don't know why I said it. Frankly, I surprised myself. Captain spun around to face me again.

"An' you shut your mouth if you know what's good for ya. Who are you anyway, shrimp, some lil run away thinkin' he's got himself a place to sleep 'cause he got a mouth an half a brain. Sock here is our number one crook 'round these parts so I'd be mindin' who you shushin' my friend," the brim of his hat shadowed over most of his face so that I could only make out the snarl that danced on his lips. "But youse is wrong Sock. This guy's though. If he's got the guts to talk to you in that way, without barely even knowin' ya, then I'd say he's a keeper," Sock's mouth fell open and I couldn't help but grin. Captain tipped his hat to me. "This guy's a mouth to by the looks oh things; twitchin' like that. I bet youse wanna say somethin' don't ya?" Winks stood beside me and smiled broadly.

"I trained 'em," he chimed. Without warning Captain stepped away from the both of us and opened the door again, stepping out into the alleyway.

"You two. You're gonna be great, that much I can say. Youse an' Sock'll clear this haul out by sundown. Victoria, get your stuff together, you've got work to do. You can explain to 'em the ropes till you're blue in the face while your at it. I'm gonna go guy me some cigars. When I'm back; this lot's got ya hear?"

"Aye Aye," Victoria called as Captain slammed the door shut behind himself without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**KIDS**

**New York 1900**

**Chapter One**

I might as well say right here and now that there was never really a leader among us. We were all just friends, all together, all the same and yet very different. We did what we felt we had to do as one, not as a group of kids playing follow the leader. It was me (Tex), King, Blue, Winks, and Bolt; and we were all kids.

We were crawling in the damp grass on our hands and knees, hoping and praying that the lights would remain off at St. Paul's Boarding School for Boys. Once we had passed the entrance gates, I looked over my shoulder at the brick lade building. Only a few more meters and we were free. The cobblestone road was right in front of our noses. It was almost too good to be true. I placed my hand on the wet cement and stated,

"Now or never,"

"Pipe down Tex!" hissed King. I could here the nervous adrenalin in his voice. "Right, so on the count of three..."

"One....two...." counted Winks, squinting down the road to where the lights from the houses shone down upon the way.

"Three!" I forget who shouted it. Maybe it was me and I had ever even noticed. We sprang up like grasshoppers and ran as fast as our legs could carry us. We only stopped after we couldn't see any trace of the school (if you could call it that) behind us. My breath was coming out in gasps. I kept looking back, half expecting to see Mr. Patch standing there, feet planted firmly, with his ruler in his hand.

"Whaddia lookin' so funny for huh? They ain't gonna come runnin' after us now," Bolt turned his head to me. He wasn't out of breath at all; hence how he acquired his nick-name. He was able to run fast for ever without even breaking a sweat.

"Nothin'. I'm not chicken if that's what's yous is sayin'" I defended myself.

"I didn't say you was a chicken. I says you just lookin' funny s'all,"

"Yeah, funny lookin' is right," muttered Blue under his breath. I heard him and gave him a good slap upside the head.

"I know what ya mean, Tex," said Winks, walking forward down the road again. The odd lights from the houses above us guided our way. "This sure is somthin' if we can pull it off. I mean, I say the same as Bolt. No teacher is gonna come runnin' after us now. They hated our guts anyway, so why would they want us back? What I'm sayin' is we're in the middle of nowhere in one of the biggest cities in the USA," that was indeed a reality check.

"Thanks, Winks, for sayin' that," King sighed. He was always the one to be strong. He won all the fights. He had his doubts about this as well.

"So what do yous gonna do now, just stand here?" Blue adjusted his patched hat.

"Not for very much longer," King replied, holding out his hand. "It's startin' to rain again," In a matter of moments the rain went from drizzling to a downpour. We were drenched in under thirty seconds.

"Wonderful!" I spat. We were silent for God knows how long until we heard a faint call from down the road.

"Hitch?!" somebody was calling. We began to walk towards the voice. King looked at me and I shrugged. "Hiiiitch?!" the voice was getting louder. I heard footsteps from not to far away and saw a dark figure approaching us with hast. They must have not been looking at where they were running 'cause they ran into me before I could move out of the way. I stumbled back and refocussed my eyes to see no one in front of me. At first I thought I had gone completely insane, until I noticed a body lying just a few feet away from me. Blue and King were kneeling beside whoever it was.

"You alright?" King asked concerned. There was no answer. I bent over the body as well, beside Blue, who seemed stunned. The body was lying face down. Their hat was still on their head but their pants and coat were now just like ours: drenched and filthy. I shook the person's shoulder and made the observation that they were a kid; just like us. They shifted.

"Where'd you come from?" asked Bolt who was right beside the kids head. At first there was no answer again but then there came a faint whisper.

"Down that way....behind that there store,"

"I think he means behind there," replied Blue quickly, pointing to the old bakery. "Here, I take his arms," King grabbed hold of the guys legs while Bolt, Winks and I ran ahead. Sure enough behind the boarded up bakery there was a little shack, also boarded up. I looked back at King.

"Must be the place," he looked just about as confused as I felt. Winks looked in between the wooden boards and knocked gingerly.

"There's a goil sittin' there...oh I thinks she heard me knockin'," The door opened a crack. A dim light shone through revealing a girl, just as Winks had told us . She looked at me a moment with suspicion, then at Winks, then at King, at which time her eyes traveled to the boy who King and Blue were still supporting. She gasped, opening the door all the way.

"In," she spoke abruptly. King stepped forward with the guy and we followed. I was shocked to see the inside of the shack to be tidy. In fact, it was more then just tidy; it was lovely. The walls were covered in scattered papers with sketches and paintings on them. There were so many pictures you could not see any trace of wood anymore. In front of me was a roaring fireplace and simple black wood-burning stove beside that. I took in everything slowly. I had never seen such a place before. "Sit," the girl told us, directing at the cushions and pillows strewn across the floor. "There," she lead King and Blue to a patched up sofa in beside the stove. They gently put the kid down there. The girl pushed them aside and examined who seemed to be her friend. We all sat down and glanced at each other puzzled. We caught a few words of what the girl was telling the boy.

"Stupid," we heard. "...always so self centered, you'll drive me to my grave I swear to God," In the light we could see she was wearing a long purple skirt and a brown blouse. She was clean and had her hair up in a knot. "Don't cha every think?...You got no brains," we heard bits and pieces of her muttering. She looked back at us. "Pass me that cloth would ya," I looked on the ground beside me and saw a bucket of water with a rag in it. I wrung out the rag slightly and tossed it to her. She gently washed the kids' face while still muttering under her breath. After she was done she moved aside and stood to face us. She was somthin' else. She looked at us differently then before. Her eyes were gentle, like they'd never hurt a person in the world. I had long ago come to the conclusion that before a person strikes you, they'll do damage in looking at you in the eyes. Her eyes showed emotion. They told a story, displayed wisdom and above all else, beauty.

My focus then went to the kid on the sofa who the girl had cleaned up with the rag just moments before. I took a double take. I looked at the others, who seemed stunned. The cap which had at one time been on their head was gone, revealing a knotted mess of dirty blonde matted hair barley going past their ears. Their eyes were something completely different. She was awake and looked like she might through something. Thats when it hit me. She. All along I thought we were helping out a boy. They way she sat, I could have sworn she was, but her face said it all, even despite her trying to look as mean as possible.

"You're nothin' but trouble Sophie, you are," the girl standing glared down at the other.

"Don't call me that or I swear I soak ya but good," she didn't move. She didn't have to, to get her point across. Her voice was shockingly intimidating. "It's Sock,"

"Shut it,"

"You shut it, I told ya, I was tryin' to find Hitch all day,"

"Gimmie a break..." the girl standing was clearly not amused.

"I warned ya!"

"You've soaked enough people to last you a lifetime today,"

"Shut you're trap, Vanessa Jane!" their eyes bore into each other. I was still staring wide eyed at the kid, now identified at Sock.

"Waddaya lookin' at bud!?" I quickly looked away. She had a thick Brooklyn accent. "You make like you've never seen someone beat up before! So where youse all from then," I sighed. I hated being asked that question. Somehow, I just never had the right answer for it. I know I was born in New York, same as all of us, and that I had lived in Manhatten till I was about four. After that I only knew the school and that's it. King knew a lot more about the world. He'd been there and seen it. "Well, let's here it," Sock sat up.

"I ain't got no story to tell," I said honestly.

"Course you do, everyone does,"

"Well not everyone wants to share their stories with perfect strangers," Winks defended me. Sock stretched her legs out in front of her and pulled a match and cigarette out from her pants pocket. She lit it up quickly and took a long drag, held it in for a brief moment, leaned over to where Winks was sitting and blew the smoke in his face.

"What are you, some kinda walkin' mouth?"

"Look who's talkin'," shot Vanessa. Her tone had changed. I had a sneaking feeling that maybe she wasn't the best fighter, and maybe she didn't act as tough as Sock did, but that she could do an awful a lot of harm with words.

"We're all from New York," stated King plainly.

"Came from the school back there..." Blue pointed to the back window. Vanessa nodded. Blue's answer didn't satisfy Sock though. She put the cigarette between her lips and mumbled,

"Came from the school..." she chuckled, "I is bettin' money youse all ran away,"

"Waddya read minds too?" Winks rolled his eyes. I winced. He really needed to learn to shut his mouth some times. He winked at Sock. Another bad move; I figured Sock wasn't the type to fall for his angel face.

"Watch it," she hissed. "If I wasn't in the shape I'm in, I'd soak ya so fast it would make your head spin," I didn't doubt it either. Her hands were clenched so hard into fists, that her knuckles were white. She had some kinda temper.

"We don't know much about ourselves really," I said earnestly. It was true. I didn't remember my parents. None of us did. All we knew was each other and the brick jail we were forced to call are home at one time.

"We ain't got nobody tuckin' us in at night that's for sure," I could detect a hint of sadness behind Bolt's voice.

"Neither do we--" began Vanessa sympathetically. I knew she had the best of intentions.

"An' we're survivin'. We ain't bickerin' and lookin' for sympathy," I was about to give Sock a piece of my mind when she suddenly sprang up and ran out the back door. She left the door open and I could see her sitting on the steps, the smoke from her cigarette whirling around her. There was a long, heavy silence.

"Youse can stay here tonight if yous likes," Vanessa bent down and pulled out a few blankets from under the sofa.

"Much appreciated," I heard King say.

"We've got some tea and left over fish..." she pointed to the stove. Everyone leapt up. We never got enough to eat at the boarding school. I took that opportunity to sneak past everyone else and walk towards where Sock was still sitting. She was blowing smoke ring, I thing I could never do, and was humming a tune under her breath.

"Sophie?" I asked gingerly. I half expected her to spin around and punch me square in the face, but she didn't. She moved over to right of the steps and patted the space now to the left of her. I was caught be surprise. Slowly I lowered myself to her level and sat down. Her head was facing the other way. She tossed the cigarette butt at my feet and sniffed.

"You, what's your name again?" it seemed more like command then a question.

"M'names Tex," I said looking straight ahead.

"Do me a favor and don't go callin' me Sophie like Vanessa do,"

"Sure thing Sock," I was going to add onto that when I head her sniff again. It then occurred to me that she could be crying. "You doin' alight?" I asked concerned. There was no response. "I didn't think..." I stopped.

"What? What don't ya think?" I hesitated.

"Nothin'," She whipped her head around to face me. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"Shoot nothin'," This time a turned my head away from her.

"I jus'...I thought...ya know, that goils like you...that they don't..." my voice trailed off to a whisper. "Cry,"

"Well you is thinkin' wrong," she started to fidget. "I wasn't crying though," I snorted.

"Sure," I said. I could be a jerk too if I wanted to.

"It's from this," she said reaching into her pants pocket again, and taking out a eye dropper.

"S'that?"

"Supposed to help," this time we both looked at each other. "To get me seein' again," I felt a sudden wash of guilt.

"You're blind?"

"Almost. I can still make out some stuff, but it has to be real close and real bright," I tried to figure out something to say.

"Can you see me?" I frowned.

"Enough that I can tell I don't like what I'm seein'," I was confused. She got up and looked up at the sky. "I don't need no ones sympathy an' pitty! I'm jus' fine the way I am!" By the way her face was contorted I knew better than to stay where I was. I headed back inside to where everyone seemed to be asleep on the floor with the pillows. I found a spot next to Blue and covered myself in a nearby blanket.

"S'all that 'bout?" I heard Blue mumble into the darkness.

"Nothin'," I debating telling him the whole story right then and there but was stopped by my own eyes lids shutting and my breathing becoming steady.


End file.
